Australia Post debate shut down

The Morrison government has shut down debate and a vote to overturn changes to Australia Post’s community obligations and delivery times.

The government has shut down debate on proposed changes to Australia Post’s Services.

The Morrison government has shut down debate and a vote to overturn changes to Australia Post’s community obligations and delivery times in parliament as the postal service reveals its actual letter losses in the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Labor has taken the unusual step of seeking disallowance motions both in the Senate and the House of Representatives about the regulatory changes, which apply until June 30 next year and will allow Australia Post to deliver mail every second business day in cities and extend delivery times on some routes.

Despite having the numbers to defeat the motion in the House of Representatives, the government successfully shut down debate and a vote on Friday morning. Instead, a vote on disallowing the changes, which have received heavy criticism about their lack of consultation and scrutiny, will be held at a later date.

Labor is also moving to establish an Senate inquiry into Australia Post to ensure the changes receive appropriate scrutiny, citing concerns about the longer-term impact of posties jobs.

Australia Post says no postie will be forced to take a redundancy as a result of the changes and “will assess the requirement for voluntary redundancies as we work through the implementation process”.

The postal service has revealed letter volumes dived 36 per cent in May compared to the same month last year, with the average household receiving the equivalent of one letter every two days, chief executive Christine Holgate said.

But May 2019 was an abnormal month, given it included a spike in letter volumes from the federal election, which delivers Australia Post millions of dollars from postal voting and political campaign mail.

Letter volumes fell 28 per cent in April compared to the same month last year, which also experienced an election bump, while volumes in March and February — which were outside the election campaign last year — fell 11 per cent and 10 per cent respectively, in-line with previous forecasts.

Australia Post initially stated letter volumes had halved when it applied for the regulatory relief in April, while the Communications Workers Union said the decline is closer to 15 per cent.

At the same time, demand for parcel deliveries has surged to levels similar to the peak Christmas rush as more people turn to online shopping during the COVID-19 lockdown.

In a joint statement Communications Minister Paul Fletcher and Finance Minister Mathias Cormann said the government rejected the “misleading and baseless claims” from Labor.

“The temporary changes are all putting Australia Post in the best position possible to continue serving the postal needs of all Australians,” Minister Fletcher said.

Opposition leader Anthony Albanese said: “the Morrison government has used the coronavirus pandemic as cover for an attack on essential services and frontline workers”.